Soeul
 

Hi - does anyone know if you need a visa to travel to Soeul and what there is to do there? My husband will be there for a few days and would like to do some exploring.

Korea requires a visa for many countries, do not know what nationality you are. I enjoyed Seoul earlier this year. Gorgeous old palaces, I chose to do the guided tour of Changdok, others are also beautiful. The Leeum Samsung Museum - www.leeum.org - has a great collcetion and is the most high tech museum experience I have ever had. Worth at least half a day. Reservations reqd. Insadong is a lovely street full of shops selling traditional Korean wares, couple of hours here is delighful. Try to go to the new W hotel for dinner, stunning architecture. The Apgujedeong area is full of very trendy shops including the must see Galleria dept store with its amazing facade.

A friend of mine just returned from Seoul. She enjoyed her time there, but noted that it is quite expensive - not at all like SE Asia. She said the taxi from the airport was about US$70. She found the prices of things to be comparable to London.

My impression of Seoul, from one short weekend there, is that it is a modern, clean, and fairly affluent city. I was impressed. The Incheon airport is quite a distance from Seoul. The airport bus is inexpensive and very comfortable.

Would have liked to have gone to a baseball game but it was not in season.

I heard that tourists cannot wear shorts when they tour - any truth to the rumor???

Danak-

As Hobbes said, you should check based on your nationality whether a visa is needed. For US citizens, I think a visa is needed for travel over 30 days?

I found the website below to be helpful in planning my trip. In addition, I think there's a page on this site where you can order lots of free books/pamphlets on Korea. I found the books to be pretty helpful.

http://english.tour2korea.com/

Finally, I've never heard of the no shorts rule? I went with my parents and husband. Both my dad and husband wore shorts throughout Korea with no issues. Is this a specific tour/site/attraction you've heard about that has a dress code?

Have a great time. We did!

Jane

ttt